


Personal Assistance

by AerynSun75



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Arrow second season, Executive Assistant, F/M, Friendship, Office, Team, olicity - Freeform, slight non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-03-03 01:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2833193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AerynSun75/pseuds/AerynSun75
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being the executive assistant of Oliver Queen has its ups and downs! - Office One-shots.</p><p>Chapter 5 is posted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The reason

**Author's Note:**

> I always found it odd, that Felicity was so mad at Oliver for making her his executive assistant and then they never discussed this issue again.  
> 

1 - The reason

She was so mad at him. How could he just make such a decision without asking her or at least informing her beforehand.

When she arrived at her desk at the IT department this morning, she was informed by her supervisor, that she had been 'promoted' to be Mr. Queen's new executive assistant. She was stunned, just standing there open-mouthed. When she started to protest, her supervisor just interrupted her. The transfer came from the new CEO Oliver Queen directly and if she had any objections, she should take it to him. She planned on doing exactly that.

On her way out of the IT department, she became aware, that while she thought of the position as that of a glorified secretary, her - now former - colleagues had a different opinion. She heard them murmur and grin to each other. Some of the men were openly leering at her - even more than before. For them it was clear, for which area of expertise Oliver Queen - billionaire and party boy - wanted her in his office.

Getting angrier at him by the minute she got into the elevator and pushed the button for the executive floor. The few people in the cabin with her seemed to detect her mood and kept their distance.

At her destination Felicity made her way to his office prepared to tell him exactly, where he could shove this 'promotion'. Coming around the corner, she halted in her steps. Apparently he wasn't even here yet. She started pacing and not so silently cursing him.

When he finally came in with Diggle in tow, she was ready to strangle him. "I quit."

"No, you don’t." Oliver just continued his way into the office, which made her even more furious.

"Yes, I do. Not my old job in the IT Department, but my new job as your executive assistant, which you think I’m going to accept. Your thinking could not be more wrong in this matter."

At least now he turned around acknowledging her. "I need a girl Wednesday."

"It’s…Friday, and the answer is no!" Gosh, the man couldn't even get his quotes right. She could have sworn, she heart a silent giggle from Diggle behind her.

Oliver pointed in the direction of 'her' desk."These computers have been upgraded. Far more processing power than your typical secretary."

He really said that word. As if executive assistant wasn't bad enough. "Did you know I went to M.I.T.? Guess what I majored in. Hint – not the secretarial arts."

Apparently now Oliver was losing his patience. "Felicity! - We all need to have secret identities now. - If I’m going to be Oliver Queen CEO, then I can’t very well travel down 18 floors every time you and I need to discuss how we spend our nights."

"And I love spending the night with you." She notice her phrasing even before she ended her sentence. "3, 2, 1..." And Oliver had the nerve to walk away from her." I worked very hard to get where I am, and it wasn’t so I could fetch you coffee!"

Diggle, who had been silently watching the exchange the whole time, choose this moment to add his view: "Well, it could be worse…My secret identity is his black driver."

Neither Oliver nor Felicity were overly thrilled by his comment and continued their argument.

Though Oliver now changed tactics by directing her focus to their Arrow business. "Right now…I need you to figure out how the hijackers are getting a line on the goods earmarked for Glades Memorial. If we know how they’re picking their targets…

"We will know when and where to stop them.", Diggle finished his sentence.

Felicity was aware of the importance of this information and gave in: "Fine." But she couldn't stop herself from making one last quip: "Oh! May I get you a cup of coffee?"

Oliver was taken aback for a moment. "You’re not actually offering to get me a cup of coffee, are you?"

Felicity stalked out of his office: "Yeah, no. That won’t be happening. Ever!"

At this moment Oliver could have just taken his temporary victory and kept silent, but he added nonchalantly: "Well, if you can bring yourself to do it, can you please make reservations for Dig, Carly and I Saturday night at Table Salt?

That nearly was the last straw. Felicity had to hold herself back to not charge back into his office. "Sure! I’ll get right on that. Using the Internet, which you also happen to have access to."

After inquiring of Diggle, if he hadn't told Oliver yet, that he and Carly were no longer together, she booked the table and began to search for things to do in order to distract herself from the man behind the glass wall. That transparent wall was yet another part of this job, she wasn't sure if to be grateful for or not.

It was only an hour later, when her anger had faded enough for her thoughts to return to another detail, she hadn't noticed before. While Oliver asked her, to make reservations for him, Diggle and Carly, he apparently hadn't thought about asking her to come. But that was something to think about on another day.

So now it was ten to five in the afternoon and her first day of being Oliver Queen's Secretary was slowly coming to an end. Slowly being the right word. If it hadn't been for her little arrow side projects and the fact, that she created herself a backdoor to the QC servers, she would have fallen asleep out of boredom. It was so bad, that she nearly was grateful for at visit and some snide remarks from Isabel Rochev. If that made her day something was really wrong.

Oliver had made some attempts to speak with her over the day, but one look from her and he retreated into his office. With their official work day coming to an end, her anger wasn't as strong as it had been in the morning and she was aware, that she had to talk to him, because there was no way they could do their night job silently and mad at each other.

Oliver apparently had the same thoughts. He had been out of the office for the past two hours for a meeting with Walter. Now he startled her by appearing silently at her desk placing a cup of coffee in front of her.

"If I started speaking, would you listen to me?" Oliver seemed almost afraid she would say no.

Instead of answering immediately Felicity grabbed the coffee and took a sip. Exactly as she liked it. As she already decided before, that they had to talk, she said: "Well, I have a nice cup of coffee and I won't go until I finished it, so use the time wisely.

Oliver grabbed one of the visitor chairs from the corner, placed it in front of her desk and sat down. He hesitated, not sure how to start. Finally he looked at her and said: " I know you are mad at me and I can understand. But please hear me out, why I did this." Felicity urged him to continue with a small nod. "I told you this morning, that I want you here as my assistant, in order to plan, how we spend our nights." He couldn't hide the small smile on his lips, when he remembered her reply to that statement . "But that was only a small part of my reason."

When Oliver paused again, Felicity prompted him to go on: "You know, one third of the coffee is gone. So you better start."

Oliver looked uncertain. " I am not sure how to start."

Felicity had to admit, that she was getting curious. "The beginning is always a good starting point."

Oliver chuckled quietly. "Ok, you wanted it like that." He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he opened them again and started speaking: "When I was twelve - before my wild youth - I wanted to have exactly this job, that I have now only accepted reluctantly. Back then I idealized my father. He and my mother were always so elegant, had parties with lots of friends at the mansion and he was the boss of so many people. Sometimes I was allowed to visit him at the office. I saw all the people, who came to him to ask for something or report to him. At the time I thought they all loved and admired him." He looked up at her. "I really was still a child. Sometimes he took the time to explain to me the things he was doing and why he was doing them. The most important thing for me about that was, that he spend time with me. Today I can remember only a fraction of the things he told me."

Seeing, that Felicity was apparently still listening to him, Oliver continued: "Out of all the things he told me, there is one thing, that I never forgot. Please remember I was twelve and was just starting to be interested in girls. So one day I sat in my father's office and was watching him work. His assistant came in with some documents he had to sign. She was in her mid-fifties and had already grown-up children. I don't know, where it came from at that moment, but when she had left his office, I walked over to my father, and asked him, why he did have such an old secretary and not a young and blond one."

Oliver saw Felicity opening her mouth and stopped her before she could say something. "No, that is not the point I wanted to make, so could you give me a few more minutes to end this story?"

Felicity nodded and took another sip of her coffee.

"So - as I said - I asked him this question and he looked furious at first. I expected him to shout at me for being so rude or shallow, but he must have realized, that I seemed really curious, so he calmed down and then said to me: 'Oliver, you are too young to fully understand this at the moment, but sitting here in my chair and being CEO of such a huge company is like dancing at the edge of a cliff. I don't know, if the heads of my departments always work in the company's best interest. Everyone coming into this office, can be a liar and often I have to be pretty good at lying too, if I want to get this job done successfully.' He turned me around and made me look over to his secretary. He said: 'This woman, Oliver, is the most important person in this company. She has inside information of everything, that goes on in our company worldwide and sees everyone entering this office. She often has information even before me, because everything arrives at her desk. Oliver, I can't just give this job to some blond secretary. I need someone there, that I can trust absolutely. Joanna has already been in this company, when we were only locally active here in Starling City in a much smaller building. She was there every step of the way, when we expanded into the world. I trust her - even more than I trust you mother - but don't tell her that.' " Oliver smiled at the memory. "I remember the next time I visited my father I brought Joanna a box of chocolates." 

When he looked up, he saw, that Felicity was watching him with a small smile herself. "You miss your father." It wasn't a question.

"Sometimes. When he died our relationship was more strained - both by my immature behaviour and his increased working hours and probably stress because of his involvement in the undertaking." He sighed. "But that's not the point here." He took a deep breath and looked directly into her eyes: "Felicity, this chair in there is for me even more a dance on the edge than it was for my father, because I am not used to it and to be blunt not qualified for it either. And in order to pull this off, I need someone here with me, who I can trust without a doubt. And that's why I need you here, Felicity. I have to know, that someone here is on my side. That there is someone, who has my back. And that there is someone to tell me the truth, when I am about to make a wrong decision."

Felicity looked touched by the things he said. She didn't know, what to say herself. Oliver didn't trust easily and while she felt, that she was on that short list of people, it was a difference for Oliver to outright say it.

Oliver saw the need to lighten the mood somehow, so with a smile he continued: "Those criteria gave me basically the choice between you and Diggle. So now imagine Diggle stuck at this desk... I don't know, who would see his maker first - me or his computer."

Felicity had to chuckle and Oliver saw that as a good sign. "Well at least with me, you don't have to wonder about that." she joked. "I would never deliberately damage a computer." After a short pause she continued: "So, now you have the whole package. Blond and trustworthy."

Oliver was in the mood to go on with their easy banter for a bit longer. "I thought you dyed it?"

"Hey, you weren't allowed to repeat this ever again. Trust goes both ways, Mister!" Her grin betrayed her fake outrage.

"Does that mean you stay?" Oliver looked at her hopefully.

"Yes, I stay." Despite her positive answer, she looked at him seriously. "But Oliver,... next time you make such life-changing decisions for me, talk to me and give me your reasons beforehand. Is that clear?"

He nodded. "Yes, I promise."

"And I will not bring you coffee. Ever!" she added.

Again he nodded. "Felicity, I promise to bring you coffee every morning."

"Really?" She looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, except maybe, when I am already late for a meeting."

Felicity looked at him with a gaze, that reminded him of his fourth grade teacher Miss Kennedy, who he had his first crush on. "Mr. Queen, you don't really think, that you will be late at any meeting with me at your assistant, do you? I will make it my personal goal, to get you out of bed in time."

It took about two seconds until she realized, what she said. "I mean by waking you up. By phone. I didn't mean....

Nothing she said could drive certain images out of Oliver's head and the grin from his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Oliver is very talkative, but I couldn't bring myself to interrupt him.  
> I have currently ideas for two other chapters.


	2. The gossip

Felicity made her way through the crowd.

Today Queen Consolidated had closed a big contract regarding a newly developed flexible synthetic. The customer - a big textile corporation - had chosen QC over their competitors. To show his appreciation for his involved employees, Oliver had organized a reception at the executive floor of QC. Or rather had Felicity organize it. It did not help, that he only had this brilliant idea at half past two in the afternoon. So Felicity had about two and a half hours to get this show on the road.

So here she was at nearly nine o'clock in the evening between about 90 QC employees including the board, the heads of department and the entire staff of Applied science.

Felicity made a note for the next event of this kind, to restricted the amount of alcoholic beverages. If she had done so today, this event would have ended hours ago and she would be comfortable in the foundry.

Oliver was making the rounds, but she could see the fake smile, he adopted from his pre-island playboy days. He looked about as happy as she felt.

A beeping sound made her take a look at her cell phone. One of her keyword searches brought up news on one of Starlings mayor criminals. She made her way over to Oliver and tapped him lightly on the arm. "Mr. Queen, could I speak to you for a minute?"

Oliver turned around and smiled more genuinely than before. "Yes, of course Ms. Smoak." He looked at the two men across from him and said: "Mr. Summers, Mr. Kendrick, if you would excuse me." He followed Felicity to an area at the windows, where they could talk more privately. "What is it, Felicity?"

"My search brought up something regarding Craig Haines. There is a container vessel arriving in Starling City harbor in about half an hour. Usually Haines picks up his... 'merchandise' on the same evening." She hesitated with the word merchandise and Oliver couldn't blame her. Craig Haines had made a small fortune over the last three years with human trafficking - mostly teenage girls from Eastern Europe.

"Call Lance, tell him to be prepared, but to wait for my signal. Haines has to be caught in the act." He looked over to his 'guests' and turned back to his partner. "Do you have any idea, how to make a quick and quiet exit."

Felicity shrugged. "We could just walk out, but it would make a bad impression on you CEO persona. How about you tell them, that you have a conference call with our office in China? Of course, you will need your diligent assistant for that."

"Of course, I will", Oliver grinned. "Wait for me at the elevators. I have at least to say goodbye to some of the board members.

Felicity nodded and turned in the direction of the door. Looking back over her shoulder, she said: "At least Isabel has already left. She would probably have insisted on taking part in the phone call."

Oliver grinned, but turned serious as soon as Felicity's back was to him. Their trip to Russia two weeks ago, had strained his relationship with his blond friend, but they were slowly going back to normal. He once again remembered Felicity's hurt look , when Isabel left his hotel room in Moscow and the shame he felled. Taking a deep breath, he made his way over to where the better part of the board was talking among themselves. He wasn't ready to really face what happened in Russia yet.

"Gentlemen, sorry to interrupt. Unfortunately I have to leave for today. My assistant just reminded me of a phone conference with China, that is scheduled in about 20 minutes." He shook their hands. "Please, enjoy the evening.

It took nearly ten minutes until he finally made his way to Felicity. They entered the executive elevator and made their way down to the underground parking level, where Diggle was already waiting to bring them to the Foundry.

The rest of the night went mostly according to plan. Unfortunately the container vessel was delayed and it was already two o'clock in the morning, when Felicity gave Lance the signal to let his men move in on Haines and his goons.

When Oliver finally came back to the foundry, he found John Diggle snoring softly on the couch. Oliver fell down on a chair near Felicity.

She turned around to him and said: "Lance just called. I should thank you for your help. The DA is positive, that they have a solid case against Haines."

"That's good." And Oliver really thought so. He just couldn't bring himself to sound more enthusiastic at this time of night. Before he took the position as CEO of Queen Consolidated, he had always caught up on sleep in the mornings. Since he returned from Lian Yu for the second time, he hadn't had that luxury and he felt his fatigue more and more.

Apparently Felicity had also read the signs. She rolled over her chair with a tablet in her hands. "I postponed your 9 o'clock meeting with Mr. Morden to the afternoon. So your first appointment tomorrow is the board meeting at half past ten."

Oliver looked at her gratefully. "Thank you, Felicity. What about you? You are awake just as long as I am."

Felicity smiled. "Thanks for the concern, but I had a good night's sleep yesterday, when you were at the club helping your sister. But do me a favour: sleep! No ten minute work-out, that turns into two hours."

Oliver looked sheepishly. She just knew him to well. "Ok, I promise. Felicity, what would I do without you?"

She thought for a moment. "Probably missing most of your appointments and having QC on the road to ruin. So we shouldn't go for a live test."

Oliver chuckled and stood up. "I take a short shower and then we give you a lift home." Her car was still at QC. "Diggle can pick you up in the morning."

When Oliver had finished his shower, Felicity woke up John and they made their way to the car, all three of them eager to get some sleep."

\----------

On the next morning John Diggle picked up Felicity at her townhouse and drove her to QC. When they arrived at the parking lot, they both exited the car and John locked it.

Felicity looked at him. "Don't you have to pick up Oliver?"

John shook his head. "No. Apparently Thea asked him to have breakfast with her at a new place a few blocks from here and insisted to drive herself."

They made their way to the elevator. Oliver had given both Felicity and John a key to the executive elevator. Unfortunately Felicity had left hers in the foundry the other day and John's had been borrowed by Oliver, because he misplaced his. So they had to take one of the general elevators.

As they had to go up to the executive floor, they moved to the back of the cabin. It was nearly nine o'clock, so the elevator was overcrowded with people both from the park deck and from the Lobby. Felicity was glad, that she wasn't claustrophobic.

At the front of the cabin - hidden from view by the people in between - a woman's loud voice could be heard. "... You can tell me whatever you want, but I am not changing my opinion. They have an affair. I mean it was clear from the start. Promoted from IT to be his executive assistant. I mean come on, he is Oliver Queen!"

Felicity looked at John sheepishly. Seeing the annoyance on her friends face, she placed a calming hand on his arm. The last thing she needed was to attract attention. John wasn't pleased, but gave in, the annoyance still on his face.

Felicity lowered her head. Fortunately nobody had noticed her there in the back. All employees were preoccupied - either with their own thoughts or with their phones or newspapers.

But the woman wasn't done yet. "Yesterday I finally got proof. I was at the reception - the whole applied science department was invited. When I saw, that Arthur Morden was already making his moves on every woman he could find, I thought it was time to go. On my way out I heard Oliver Queen himself say goodbye to my boss. He told him, that he had to participate in a conference call with China." She snorted. "Conference all - as if!"

Another female voice asked: "Well, he could have had a phone conference, couldn't he?"

The first voice continued. "You are so naive. Now hear me out and don't interrupt. I went to the elevators. And there his assistant stood, pretending to type something on her tablet. I mean, have you seen the dresses she wears - all short and tight-fitting. He probably byes them for her."

Felicity heard affirmative murmuring from other occupants of the elevator. She wished for the wall to swallow her. The gossip wasn't new to her, but the animosity she could hear from that woman was cutting into her like a knife. She looked up, when she felt a comforting hand on her arm and gave John's hand a grateful squeeze.

The spiteful faceless voice didn't hesitate in her eagerness to please her audience. "I went down to the garage. Queen's driver was waiting there with his car. Then I heard the arrival of the executive elevator. They both came out. He had his hand at the small of her back and guided her into the car. She probably gave him her 'personal assistance' right there in the backseat." Fortunately at that point the talkative woman exited the elevator.

Felicity and John were the only ones, that went up to the top level. When the door opened, Felicity made her way quickly to her desk. John followed a little slower. Felicity started her computer and sat down. She could feel John's gaze on her, but chose to ignore it.

He had other ideas. "Are we going to talk about, what just happened?"

She leaned back in her chair and looked at him. "There is nothing to talk about."

"Oh, really. They more or less just called you a whore", he said bluntly.

Felicity's face turned furious and she stood up. "You think, I don't know that", she shouted. Taking a look to the hall outside the office, she was glad, that no-one heard her outburst. In a lower voice she continued: "John, this isn't the first time nor will it be the last time someone said something like that. I admit this was pretty blunt, but I heard worse."

"And you just let it happen and say nothing?" John looked at her unbelievingly, "That's not the Felicity Smoak I know."

"No", she admitted, "that's the Felicity Smoak, that is aware, that protesting just makes it worse and who was aware, that this was inevitable from the moment I accepted this promotion."

John wasn't convinced. "But you accepted. For Oliver."

"Yes. And it maybe not ideal, but I still stand by that decision."

"You have to tell Oliver. Maybe he can try to keep more distance. Or he can..." He stopped speaking.

Felicity smiled sadly. "I won't tell Oliver and you will neither. There is nothing he or anyone can do. Even if I go back to the IT department, there will be gossip about Oliver getting finally bored with me or a lover's quarrel or something else I can't even think of. As it is now, the rumors are even an advantage. As long as they all think, that he is sleeping with me they won't further question, why we go away together or why someone sees me at Verdant."

"But Oliver...", John tried again.

"... has enough things to worry about." Felicity interrupted him. "Please, don't tell him anything, John."

Her friend sighed. "Ok, I won't say anything - for now." He saw her relief. "Felicity, if you ever want to talk about it or if it gets worse, I will be here for you."

"Thank you, John", she said. Then she focussed on something behind John. "Well, as if the day wasn't bad enough so far."

As if switched Felicity plastered a fake smile on her face - so fake it rivalled Oliver's. "Ms. Rochev, good morning. How can I help you?"

Isabel stalked into the office ignoring John's quiet 'Good morning'. She didn't bother with such formalities. "The morning would be good, if Mr. Queen were her. There is a board meeting in one and a half hours and I wanted to have a word with him beforehand.

Felicity tried to keep her patience. "I am sure Mr. Queen would be here, if you had made an appointment."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. Isabel's mouth formed a cold smile now. "And I am sure Mr. Queen would be here, if you had made a little more effort to wake him up this morning. Or are you only responsible to 'assist' him here in the office." She kept looking at Felicity smugly. There was no way to misread the meaning behind her words.

The next three seconds moved in slow motion for Felicity. In her peripheral view she saw John trying hard to hold himself back. For a moment she saw herself slapping Isabel in the face, but then she just stood up and looked to the other woman with a smile of her own. "You know, Ms. Rochev, your obsession with Oliver's sex life makes you look slightly clingy and desperate. Perhaps the reason, that there was no repeat of your hook-up despite your advances is just, that it wasn't as memorable for him as it was for you." Isabel looked at her stunned, but Felicity wasn't done. "I am sure, Oliver will be here any minute now. He was slightly exhausted last night. But I am sure a few hours of good sleep helped him to get his... stamina up again."

Isabel had recovered from her initial shock and looked now furious. She opened her mouth to say something, but then just closed it again and rushed out of the room. 

At that moment Oliver left the elevator. His 'Good Morning' to Isabel was just met with an angry stare and a growl, when she ran past him.

Oliver made his way over to his friends. "Good Morning. What's with Isabel? She looked ready to kill someone." He placed a cup of coffee on Felicity's desk and smiled at her.

Felicity grabbed the coffee, took a sip and leant back in her chair with a content smile.

Oliver looked at her bemused. "You on the other hand look like the cat that ate the canary - pun not intended."

"I think she is just really not satisfied with her life and to my greatest regret, I was not able to help her." Felicity's voice dripped with sarcasm but nevertheless she still smiled.

"Care to elaborate?", Oliver asked.

"No, not important. She just wanted to make sure, that you are here for the board meeting today."

Oliver nodded absently already going over a file he took from her desk and turned to his office. Before John followed his friend, he gave Felicity's shoulder a squeeze and said in a low voice: "Way to go, girl! What's with the not doing anything?"

Felicity still smiled: "You know, Isabel makes me furious with her whole passive-aggressiveness and I don't really care, what she thinks about me."

Turning more serious, John said: "But was that really a smart move? Isabel strikes me as quite resentful."

Felicity looked up at him. "I'll be careful. But I just couldn't stop myself. And the look on her face was so absolutely worth it."

John turned to Oliver's office. "Oh yes, it was. And you were remarkable. You didn't even ramble." He stopped again. "You're not going to tell me about that hook-up you talked about, do you?

Felicity didn't look at him and instead turned to her computer. "Nope, not going to happen."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not really happy with the ending.  
> There was not much Olicity in here, but I promise, there will be more in the 3rd chapter (half ready).


	3. More than gossip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone, who left kudos and comments!
> 
> In this chapter there is a slight non-con situation, but in my opinion it is not enough to require a warning and a rating above 'Teen and up'. Please let me know, if you think otherwise! Then I will change it.
> 
> This got a lot longer than I thought it would be. But I couldn't bring myself to cut anything out.

It was nearly lunchtime. Felicity was just reviewing a report from the QC office in Tokyo. The text was almost the same one she got in the last two months. Just the numbers itself were slightly different. Whoever wrote this didn't put much effort in it.

She looked up from her tablet, when Oliver came out of the conference room after a two hour meeting with the project leaders of Applied Science. He came over and put some new files in her inbox. She looked at him annoyed.

"Sorry", he mouthed before he said goodbye to the project leaders.

At this moment Thea Queen exited one of the elevators. Felicity smiled at Oliver and said: "Your lunch date is here."

Oliver turned around and embraced his sister. "Give me a minute, Thea, then we can go." He went into his office, took a file from his desk and came back. "Felicity, our CFO, Arthur Morden, has not signed the quarterly financial report yet. Could you please go to his office? I need to forward this report today."

"Sure, I go now. Then you have it on your desk after your lunch break." Getting up, she was stopped by Oliver's hand on her arm. "Don't eat too much. I'll bring back some dessert", he said with a smile.

"Looking forward to it." Gosh, since when could her voice get so flirty!? Time for a quick exit. Behind her, she could hear Thea chuckle.

Felicity made her way to the elevator. The financial department was two floors down. She stepped out and the contrast to the executive floor was obvious. Where Oliver's office was modern and bright with all the glass walls, this floor was dark. Dark wood - black leather chairs and a dark green carpeting.

Felicity smiled at the middle-aged woman in front of the CFO's office. "Hello Sally, is Mr. Morden here?"

"Yes, dear, of cause." She went over to her bosses door and knocked. After a few seconds she opened the door. "Mr. Morden? Miss Smoak, Mr. Queen's assistant, is here to see you." Sally stepped to the side and signalled Felicity to go in. "I am off to my lunch break now." Sally left and closed the door.

Mr. Morden sat behind his desk and was talking to someone on the phone. He waved her over to the couch in front of the window.

Felicity sat down on the small couch and -having nothing else to do - watched the CFO. She estimated, that Arthur Morden was about 45 years old. He was well-dressed and neat. In Felicity's opinion he tried a little too much to look younger than he was. When she was still in the IT department last year, the office gossip said, that he had cheated on his wife with a 24 year old fitness trainer, and that his wife divorced him. He had a reputation among the female employees of QC. He liked flirting and expensive scotch. Too much of the latter made the flirting even worse.

Hanging up his phone, Morden turned around in his chair. "Miss Smoak, how can I help you." He let his gaze sweep over her body before it went back to her face, and Felicity had to suppress a shudder. His smile showed his brilliantly white teeth. It reminded Felicity of the fake smiles Oliver gave in public.

"Mr. Queen asked me to fetch you signature. Apparently you forgot to sign the quarterly financial report." She saw him standing up from his chair and coming over to the couch.

"Are you sure? I thought I signed it. Let me have a look." Felicity wanted to get up to give him the report, but he already sat down beside her on the couch and started reading. He didn't touch, but sat a little bit too close for comfort.

"Yes, you are right. Wait, I sign it right now. He took a pen from his jacket and signed the report. "So all done."

Felicity put the report back into the file. As she just wanted to get up, Morden said: "So, how is life on the executive floor. I heard you were in the IT department before."

Though Felicity wanted to go back to her office, she thought it would be rude to not make just a little bit of small-talk. So she smiled and said: "Yes, and working up there is quite different from the IT department. Different dress code. Also... I miss the independency. In IT I had my projects and reported to my supervisor only when there were problems or in the weekly meetings. I never before worked directly under one superior. Though Mr. Queen is quite easy to work with."

"Yeah I can imagine. So how is Mr. Queen as a boss? I knew his father really well. Is Oliver demanding or easily satisfied."

Felicity didn't like the phrasing of Mr. Morden's questions.

"I don't really have the comparison. So, I can't tell." She stood up. "I really have to go back."

"I can give you the comparison." Suddenly Morden grabbed her arm and pulled her back on the couch. "You will find me easily satisfied too."

"Mr. Morden, I really have to go upstairs again." Felicity struggled to get up. Morden still had her arm in a vice like grip and his eyes were running over her body.

"Oh, dear, let us have some fun in our lunch break. I mean how long before Queen gets bored with you. Soon you will need a new job. I will fire Sally. I am sure we will make an excellent team."

When Felicity tried to get her arm free, Morden swung her around, so she was with her back on the couch. In one fluid motion, he suddenly towered over her, one knee between her legs and both her wrists in one hand pressed down into the couch. The other hand went to her neck, before slowly sliding down the neckline of her dress.

Felicity felt the beginning of panic set in. Morden was physically stronger than her and at the moment he had the upper hand. But she wouldn't give in. She couldn't fight like Oliver or Digg, but that didn't mean she would just be paralyzed by fear.

"I really like to have a taste of what Queen gets ..." Before he could continue, Felicity jerked her knee into his groin. He let go of her hands in shock and pain, and Felicity took the chance to push him back. She grabbed the file and made her way around the table and out of the office without looking back again. She heard him shouting insults after her.

Felicity didn't know how exactly she made her way back to her floor, but when she looked into the mirror in the women's restroom, she hoped, that no-one had seen her. Her eyes were red and her make-up was smeared. She wet some tissues and began to clean her face from the signs of her tears. When she looked somewhat presentable again, she noticed that her hands were shaking. She couldn't go out there like this. Going to one of the cubicles, she went in, locked the door and sat down on the closed cover. Still shaking, she felt her eyes tear up again. Oliver and John would be back from lunch soon. She had to get herself under control again.

It took another 40 minutes before she felt confident enough to leave the restroom and make her way back to her office.

 

\--------------

 

John Diggle sat on one of the visitor chairs opposite from Felicity's desk. Oliver had send him back with the chocolate mousse for Felicity, because he had to go directly to another meeting.

Eventually Felicity came into the office. She looked in John's direction, but wouldn't meet his eyes. "Hey, you are already back."

She couldn't fool him for one second. Something was off in her stance and the smile, that didn't reach her eyes. "Felicity, what happened?"

"Nothing", she said. When she saw his disbelieving face, she added: "I think I ate something wrong."

"Fe-li-ci-ty..." John's way to say her name could rival Oliver's.

Thinking of Oliver, she took a look around. "Where's Oliver?"

"He went directly to a meeting after lunch. Don't try to distract me." John had made his way over to her desk. Seeing her nearly anxious gaze, before she lowered her head, he changed tactics. Going slowly around the desk, he crouched down beside her and leaned in to look into her eyes. "Felicity, please tell me what happened."

She looked up at him. He could see, that she was trying to hold back the tears. Making his decision he stood up, carefully took her elbow and guided her into Oliver's empty office. It wasn't ideal, but at least they couldn't be seen from the hall.

He slowly guided her to the couch to sit down and then took the seat at the opposite side of the low table. Whatever happened, he thought to give her some space.

"Felicity, please tell me what happened," he asked again keeping his voice gentle in order to make her comfortable.

She had her eyes still aimed to the floor, when she said: "I have to go back to my desk. I still have some things to prepare for tonight." Despite her words she made no attempt to stand up.

John sighed. "In the state you are in now you won't get much done. - Please."

"Before he went to his lunch break, Oliver sent me to get a signature on a report. So I went."

Apparently she still didn't know, how to really start. "Where did he send you, Felicity?"

"Arthur Morden." Her voice was nearly a whisper.

John got a bad feeling. He has been around long enough to know Morden's reputation. The female employees usually avoided him, as he was always flirting with them. On several occasions he had apparently made some really explicit offers.

"Felicity..."

"When I came to his office, Sally, his assistant was just leaving for lunch. He was on the phone and signalled me to sit down on the couch. It took about 3 minutes, before he ended his phone call." Now that she started, she tried to get it all out before she lost her nerve again. "He asked me, why I was there, and I told him, that Oliver needed his signature on the quarterly finance report. He came over, sat down beside me and signed the file. I wanted to get up, but he started talking to me. I didn't want to be rude. - I really should have gone. I had, what I came for..." She looked distraught.

"Felicity", John interrupted her. At his shout her head shot up and she met his eyes. "Whatever happened, it wasn't your fault." For a moment she just stared at him, then she nodded. "Can you go on?" he asked.

Taking a deep breath, she continued: "It began pretty innocently. He asked me about how I adjusted after the change from IT to being Oliver's EA. - Then his phrasing got weird. He asked, if Mr. Queen was easy to 'satisfy'." She stopped again, clearly struggling to go on.

John had a bad inkling about, what was to come next. "Felicity, was talking all he did?" he asked quietly.

He got his confirmation, when she shook her head. "When I wanted to stand up to leave, he grabbed my arm. He told me we could have some fun and that he would take me as his assistant, when... Oliver will get bored with me. I struggled to get up - He pushed me down into the couch and..."

"Felicity, did he..."

"No! No, he didn't really do anything. I kicked him in the groin and then ran out of his office."

John stood up. He didn't want to startle her, so he started speaking as he made his way slowly to her side. "Felicity, as I said earlier, this was not your fault. You know Morden. You know, that he is an asshole. You had no way of knowing, that he would go so far." He sat down beside her on the couch and was relieved, when she didn't flinch away from him. "We wait until Oliver is back and..."

She looked up. "No! I told you, Oliver doesn't need to know. I can handle this."

John shook his head. "When we talked before, it was just gossip. That was something, you could handle. But this is sexual harassment, Felicity." He saw her flinch at his last words. "This is way too serious to just leave it be."

"But nothing happened." He heard the panic in her voice. "I got away from him. Nobody... Oliver doesn't have to know."

"Yes, he has to. As your friend but also as CEO of Queen Consolidated. A female employee was harassed by the CFO. He has to know this. Now, that Morden has crossed this line, it will probably happen again. Not only will there be a woman in your or a worse situation - which is bad enough - but QC could also be suited for not having prevented it." John felt bad for laying down such responsibility on his friend, but she had to see, that this was bigger than just some gossip.

Felicity knew, that John was right, but the thought of telling Oliver or even the police frightened her. Taking a deep breath she said: "Ok, I will tell Oliver, but not here." The longer she stayed here, the more she was afraid, that Morden would come up here. She knew, that Digg would never let something happen to her, but she was not ready to face Morden.

John considered what to do. He was ready to meet her halfway. "Ok, here's what we do. You make a call to HR, say that you don't feel good and ask them to send a replacement for the rest of the day to man the phone. Then I'll drive you home. I don't tell Oliver anything, when he comes back. Then tonight we will either come over to your place to talk to you or I'll pick you up and we'll drive to the foundry - your choice." So far she had just listened. "Then you... we tell Oliver."

"You are not negotiating these conditions, are you?"

"Nope."

"Ok."

They both stood up. John contemplated to hug Felicity, but perhaps it was still to raw.

After getting a temporary replacement for Felicity, they made their way to the park deck. Fortunately they could use the executive elevator, so she hadn't had to face any other employees.

"Should I drive with your car? Then you have it at home. I can go back with a cab", John asked his friend. Felicity nodded.

The drive to Felicity's townhouse was silent. After they exited the car, John locked it and handed her the keys. "So, what will it be - your apartment or the foundry?"

"The foundry. I want to avoid Oliver trashing my apartment." There was a shadow of a smile grazing her lips.

Diggle smiled back. "Wise decision. I'll be here at half past five with Oliver. I will only tell him, that you didn't feel well. If there is a change of plans, I will text you." He stood there indecisive. "See you later, Felicity." He turned to leave.

"John?"

He turned back around and looked at her.

"Could you perhaps give me a hug?" She seemed embarrassed.

John smiled widely. "Of course, I will." He stopped in front of her and engulfed her in his arms.

Felicity murmured into his shirt. "No tiptoeing around me, okay? Not from you."

Smiling he nodded.

 

\---------------

 

Oliver was surprised to see an unknown woman at Felicity's desk, when he came back from his meeting.

Shortly after Diggle came back again and told him, that Felicity hadn't felt well and that he had driven her home. She would probably be in Foundry in the evening.

His afternoon had been busy, but he felt himself missing the familiar sight of his friend at the front desk.

At five o'clock he started to put away the document scattered on his desk, thanked Felicity's replacement for her help and made his way down with Diggle.

"Have you heard anything from Felicity." he asked his friend.

"Yeah, she feels better again. We'll pick her up on our way to the foundry."

Felicity was already waiting in front of her townhouse. She greeted him, but after that she remained silent, which was absolutely out of character for her.

"Felicity, are you alright?" Oliver looked at her worriedly.

She gave him a small smile. "Yes, I am ok. I already told Diggle. I think I ate something, that didn't agree with me." He couldn't be sure in the dark interior of the car, but she seemed tense to him.

When they arrived in the foundry, Felicity made a beeline for her computers. The two man followed and stopped a few meters away from her.

She ignored them. But apparently something was on Diggle's agenda for the evening. "Felicity?" When he didn't get a response, he addressed her again. "Felicity, now would be a good time."

"It can wait." The blond seemed to have other ideas.

Oliver looked from one to the other. "Ok, what's going on? Your are acting weird."

Felicity didn't turn, but said over her shoulder: "Digg is just overprotective

"Arthur Morden harassed her!" For a moment you could have heard a pin drop - at the other end of the city.

Then Oliver's "What?" was met with Felicity's sarcastic "Well, thank you, Digg!" She had turned around in her chair and glared at him, but then lowered her gaze.

Looking at his two friends for more information, Oliver's mind went into overdrive. Harassing could mean anything, from slight annoyance to verbal or physical assault. She seemed fine physically, so he hoped that the worst case on his mind was not true. Diggle looked at Felicity encouraging, but she wouldn't meet either man's eyes, seemingly contemplating how to go on.

Taking a deep breath, Oliver said: "Ok, let's all sit down and then I want to know, what happened - from the beginning." Diggle set down, but Oliver felt to tense to follow his own advice. When no-one started to speak, Oliver got more impatient by the minute. "Come on, guys, spit it out." Still nothing. "Fe-li-ci-ty."

"Do you two practice saying my name like this in front of a mirror! Because that's really annoying." At least he got a reaction. At a bonus she had looked up to his face. Sighing she finally started to speak. "I went to Morden's office at noon to get his signature on the report. Sally, his assistant, guided me into the office and then left for her lunch break. Morden was on the phone and waved me over to sit down on the couch until he was ready."

Oliver interrupted her: "So you did? Why not in the chair in front of his desk?" The moment his question was out, he could see, she misunderstood the reason for his question.

She stood up and looked at him with a mixture of anger and hurt. "Why? Is that somehow relevant to what happened? Are you saying, that, if I had no sat down on...."

"Felicity! I wasn't saying anything here. I just wanted to know..."

Without noticing the two of them had come to stand directly across from each other, both troubled by the other's words.

"Ok, back off, both of you." John Diggle had his hands on both their shoulders, pushing them away from each other. "We are not here to be at each other's throats. So calm down." They both looked at their friend, then again at each other. Eventually they turned around and took some steps away from each other like boxers making the way back to their corners. John continued his mediation. "Ok, Oliver, why do you want to know about where Felicity sat and why."

Instead of Oliver, Felicity started again: "Because he is..."

"Stop!" Diggle had enough. "You both got to speak your mind, but stop interrupting each other. Oliver?"

Oliver had tried to calm down again and looked at Felicity apologetically. "I don't want to insinuate anything. It just a technique I learned, when I was with... when I was away. I try to envision a situation. And my mind tries to add all the missing pieces at once. I can ask my questions when you finished, but it helps to have them answered immediately, so I can base the rest of the situation on these answers." He hesitated for a moment. "Also I am playing devil's advocate. These are just the questions Human resources and the police will ask."

With this he got Felicity on the edge again. "Oh, I am not going to report this. I am just telling you, because Digg insisted."

Now it was Oliver's turn to look hurt. "You wouldn't have told me?"

John Diggle was aware, that they were losing their focus again. "Could we for now go back to the facts, because, if we go on at this rate, we'll sit here for hours." When both nodded, he continued: "For now. Felicity, please just go on. Oliver asked you questions. And please refrain from judging each other's motivations for now."

Felicity still looked uncomfortable. "There were piles of papers on the two chairs in front of his desk." Glancing at Oliver cautiously she went on: "I sat down on the couch. It took about 3 minutes, before he ended his call. He wanted to know the reason, why I came over and I told him about the missing signature in the report. He came over and sat on the couch next to me. He..."

"Directly next to you?" Oliver tried to keep his voice neutral. The way this seemed to develop, it was probably more than just some verbal lapse by his CFO.

Apparently Felicity had decided to humour him for now. "There were still a few inches between us." When he nodded, pleased with the answer for now, she continued: "He took the file, opened it, went to the last page and he signed it. And before you ask, he got the pen out of his jacket."

Oliver smiled. "You know me too well." Turning sober again, he said: "What happened then?"

Felicity struggled to continue. Oliver decided, whatever question he had from now on, he would wait until she finished. This would be difficult enough without interruptions.

"I put the document back in the file." Her voice was unusually flat. "I wanted to go up and leave, but he started to talk. He asked me how I had adjusted to the work on the executive floor." She looked up at both of her teammates. "I didn't want to be rude, so I stayed and answered him. He asked, how I get along with you and then... the phrasing of his questions was off." Seeing Oliver's questioning look, she specified: "I usually not use the word 'satisfy' for describing a work relation. I got uncomfortable and stood up. He grabbed my arm, pulled me down again. An then he was over me..." Oliver could see her struggle to go on, but again decided to not interrupt.

"... he had my wrists in one hand and the other went to my throat. At that point I put my knee in his groin. He let go of my hands and I pushed him back. I grabbed the file from the table and ran from his office."

For the next few minutes, there was a strained silence in the foundry. Oliver was pacing lost in his thoughts. His mind was showing him pictures of the scene Felicity described. The thought of his friend manhandled by the CFO of his company and the fact, that it was him, who practically send her in the lion's den were unbearable for him.

When his pacing brought him in the area of the training dummy, his anger and guilt made came to the surface and he hit the inanimate object with full force, letting go a furious scream. After that he kept standing with his back to his friends, trying to get his breathing under control.

When he felt composed enough again, he turned to his teammates. Diggle looked at him patiently and without judgement.

Felicity stared at him, looking extremely uncomfortable. Surprisingly it was her, who broke the silence. "So what now?" Before he could say anything, she continued: "I am not reporting that. That would give even more fuel to the gossip." Noticing what she said, she groaned, but it was too late.

Picking up on her statement, he asked: "What gossip?"

Felicity sighed. "Oliver, what do you think is the common opinion, when a lowly blond IT girl gets promoted to be executive assistant to a well-know playboy. Ok, former playboy, but that fact is not so well-known?"

"How long is this going on? And how long do you know? Why didn't you tell me? Has something like this with Morden happened before?"

Felicity came over and laid a hand on his arm. "Oliver, there is no need for you to freak out. I am a big girl. I can handle gossip." He still looked at her intensely. She gave in, answering his questions. "The gossip started nearly at day one. I only heard bits and pieces of it. But sometimes it was pretty awful. I didn't tell you, because you had enough issues with QC and your mom and the Arrow. And no, something like this has not happened before."

"And it should have never happened." He laid his hand on hers. "I have never wanted to bring you in such a position. You shouldn't have to endure the gossip and getting... touched by the likes of Morden." He looked desperate.

Diggle cleared his throat and his friends turned around. "I think, we have to decide, how to go on from here. I am still thinking, you should report him. He's a danger to other women."

"WE decide? Shouldn't it be my decision?" Felicity said. "I see reporting him as the last resort. Maybe we find another way." She looked defeated, as if she knew that reporting him was the only option.

Oliver looked at her sympathetically."Do you want him to get away with it. You know I no longer kill people, right?"

"Well, maybe we really have to find another way." Diggle smiled enigmatically. "I have an idea."

 

\------------------

 

The CFO of Queen Consolidated, Arthur Morden, arrived home shortly before midnight. After leaving QC he had dinner with an old friend from his college days. Now he was looking forward to two or three glasses of scotch in front of the TV. Apart from the money he had to pay to his wife, the divorce was the best thing that ever happened to him. He was free to do whatever he wanted.

Locking his Mercedes he made his way through the connecting door from the garage into the house. He didn't notice the dark figure that entered through the gap under the closing garage door.

Making his way to the living room, Morden slipped out of his designer shoes, switched on the TV and helped himself to a generous amount of 30 year old scotch. Sitting down on the recliner, he took a sip and sighed. Life was good. There had been a light set-back at lunch, when the opportunity with Queen's hot secretary didn't work out. But as soon as Queen dumps her for some new toy, she will come begging for a chance with him. And if he felt generous, he will grant her a few months.

Morden was planning to let the show on TV lull him to sleep, when suddenly the lights and his TV went out. His living room was only illuminated by the moonlight. He decide to check the fuses. Before he could completely stand up, he became aware of the dark silhouette in front of his window. Shrieking he fell back in his recliner and watched the shadow coming nearer.

"Arthur Morden, you are a shame to mankind", a dark, electronically altered voice said to him.

When the figure was only three meters in front of him, he could make out the hood covering his head. It was the vigilante, the hooded menace that had haunted Starling City's elite for more than a year now. The media was at odds with itself about whether the 'Hood' was a blessing or a curse for the city. Being one of the wealthier residents of the city, Arthur Morden was inclined to the latter. Currently Arthur's gaze was concentrated on the arrow, that was directed at his groin.

"You are a pig, Arthur Morden", the dark voice continued, "not only do you plague the female population with your unbearable presence, you also started making unwanted physical advances on your co-workers. Advances, that could easily put you in jail. - Consider this a last warning. You are under surveillance from now on. Should there be any more assault on not consenting woman, I will have to visit you again. - And believe me I have the means to put all of your urges to a definite end."

Staring at the man in front of him, Morden saw him touching something at his ear. Then the archer closed the distance to him and leaned down, so that his face was directly in front of him. The distorted voice said in an even more menacing, barely controlled anger: "Ms. Smoak... is a personal friend of mine. I will be really displeased, should your behaviour towards her ever be anything less than professional and polite - from an appropriate distance."

Morden felt himself shaking and he had to remind himself to breathe. The dark clad man touched his ear again and increased the distance between them. Morden's followed every motion with fearful eyes. Suddenly the vigilante release the arrow, which embedded itself in the armrest of the recliner, grazing his thigh and leaving a bloody gash.

Morden couldn't prevent his high-pitched shriek. Grabbing his bloody thigh, his gaze turned away from the intruder to his injury.

Suddenly the lights and the TV came on again and when rational thought came back to Arthur Morden, he noticed, that he had wet his pants.

 

\-----------

 

Coming back to the foundry Oliver found Felicity still in high spirits. Did this girl even know, what she had done. "Felicity! Never again will I let you write the text for my threats. And for the extreme unlikely case, I should allow it, there is no way, that I leave the comms open in both directions. - This is not funny!" He tried to hold his earnest expression, but the sight of his giggling girl wednesday had him smiling and soon laughing along with her.

Felicity had tears of glee running down her cheeks. "It was hilarious, Oliver. I wish I could have been there to see his face."

"Yeah, it was", he admitted, "but do you have any idea, how difficult it is to sound all dark and menacing, when you have someone giggling in your ear the whole time. And it didn't help, that the lines you wrote me were overly dramatic." Oliver wasn't really annoyed, but he couldn't stop himself from continuing their banter.

"Diggle started the giggling. He can be such a girl," the statement had them in a new fit of laughters.

Though he had really struggled in confronting Morden with his team distracting him, he would do it all again, because he had his carefree Felicity back. Oliver looked around. "Speaking of Diggle, where is he?"

"He went home, after you left Morden's house. He said he had enough drama and comedy for one day."

Felicity started to shut-down the computers. It had been a long day, but Oliver had still something on his mind. He moved to stand beside Felicity's chair and put his hand on her shoulder. When she turned to look up at him, he said: "I am sorry, Felicity. All of this - the gossip and Morden.... - it all happened because of me. If I had let you stay in the IT department, this would have never happened."

Felicity shook her head. "Maybe, maybe not. Arthur Morden didn't become like this, because you promoted me to be your EA. I was just the opportunity he took. Otherwise it could have happened in two weeks or in three months - it could have been some unfortunate intern or an IT girl fixing his computer - who knows."

Oliver nodded. "But the gossip...."

"Oliver I have worked at QC for three and a half years now. I know, how the gossip works there. That means, I was aware of what would happen from the moment I accepted the promotion. So with the promotion I also accepted the gossip. It doesn't mean anything. There are only a few people, which are important to me and who's opinion is important to me. The rest of them - all the people, who don't know me - are irrelevant.

"I am sorry nevertheless. I didn't even think about this possibility."

"Oliver, stop blaming yourself. You couldn't know." She suddenly chuckled. "I just thought, that, if our roles were reversed, if you were my EA, most people wouldn't even suspect sexual favouritism. And if they would, the male employees would probably congratulate you. That's the way the world works."

Oliver smiled slightly, still not completely sure. "Is there anything I can do?"

Felicity shook her head. "No, not really. We could try to keep a little more distance at work, but it would probably not help. On the contrary, our 'unnatural' behaviour would make us even more suspicious." Felicity put her hand on his, which was still sitting on her shoulder. "Oliver I don't regret anything. Even knowing what would come, I would make the same decisions again - from helping you in spite of your ridiculous lies to becoming your glorified secretary. - We are in this together."

Finally smiling genuinely, Oliver gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Thank you Felicity. I don't know, what I would do without you."

"You're welcome."

Pulling his hand back, Oliver made his way around the desk. "I'll change and then I'll take you home."

"Oh, I don't think so", Felicity replied, "you are here with your bike and there is no way I get on that thing. I call a cap."

"Fine, but I come upstairs with you. You shouldn't be alone at night in the glades."

"Ok, hurry up."

"You know Felicity, one of these days I will give you a ride." - "On my bike." He added about two seconds later.

Felicity chuckled. "Dream on, Oliver, dream on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope, that this wasn't too long.
> 
> I tried to tell the story from different perspectives, but sometimes someone else's thoughts just slipped in.
> 
> Please let me know, what you think!
> 
> Correction:  
> I shouldn't have proofread and posted this chapter at nearly 3 AM!  
> I just noticed, that Oliver (ok, it was me) mentioned A.R.G.U.S. and in early season 2 he probably wouldn't do that so casually. So I edited it.


	4. Count down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the death of the Count it's just another day in the office or isn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone, who left kudos and comments!
> 
> I wanted to post this earlier, but it took weeks to finally pull myself together and write it, though the rough story was already half done in my head.  
> The blame lies with all the wonderful authors out there, who don't stop to write new chapters for their fics and so keep me from writing my own story. - No, seriously, I am just too easily distracted.

The last few days had been hell. Starling City had been swamped with the new Vertigo, the emotional roller coaster of his mother’s trial, ending in her verdict being not guilty. And of course his encounter with the Count - or rather Felicity's encounter with the Count. Oliver didn't want to think about, what could have happened.

Now one day later, it was business as usual - or nearly as usual. Due to the showdown with the Count his office was still not cleared by the police. Also the repairs of the window and the interior would take another three days. He and Felicity would take residence in an empty office one floor under the executive floor for a few days. 

When he arrived, Felicity had already rescheduled his appointments for the morning. Now they just had to fetch some things from their usual office to start their working day.

Although they had to go up only one floor, they took the elevator. When they stepped out on the executive floor Oliver was immediately stopped by a member of the board with some oh-so-important issue, which couldn't wait until the board meeting in the afternoon. Felicity signalled him, that she would go ahead. It took Oliver another five minutes to get rid of the eager man. 

When he finally entered the outer office, he could see Felicity standing at the yellow tape, which the police used to constrict the access to his office. Her back was to him, so he couldn’t see her face, but the facial expression of the police officer, who had been left to guard the crime scene, was enough to let him know that something was wrong. The young man was carefully talking to Felicity in a low voice, but judging by his helpless expression, he was at his wit’s end.

When he saw Oliver he seemed relieved. Coming over to him, he spoke in a low voice: "I don't know, what happened. She came in smiling, said good morning and continued speaking of this and that. Suddenly she shut up and I saw her over there. She has been standing there for about two minutes now and doesn’t react to my voice." Oliver made his way slowly over to his friend, while the officer continued: "I didn't know if I should touch her or not. I didn't want her to panic. She seems be totally lost in thought."

Coming around, Oliver finally saw Felicity's face. Her gaze was unfocussed and her breathing got more rapid with each moment. He experienced panic attacks before - both himself and as an observer. She showed all the signs.

Slowly he pushed himself in her field of vision. She seemed to look right through him. "Felicity?" He could see a small twitch, but that's all. He carefully placed his left hand on her shoulder and his right hand to her face. She flinched away from him, but finally she looked up to him, staring into his eyes. Her eyes were wide and her breathing was still too fast. "Felicity, just concentrate on my voice. Breathe slowly. Come on, breathe together with me." Taking deep breaths, Oliver hoped he could bring her out of her panic. It took about half a minute, but finally he noticed her breathing slowing down, her eyes slowly coming back to the present.

When Oliver thought, that she was focussed enough, he said: "Felicity!? Let's go out of here, ok?" She didn't answer, but when he turned her around and tugged her to his side, she didn't fight him. Nodding to the officer, he guided her out of the office and was confronted with the next problem. He needed to give her some space and going down in the elevator with other people was not an option. He could see two executive assistants talking at the other end of the floor, but fortunately they hadn't seen them so far. His gaze fell on the door to the stairway and he moved in that direction, Felicity still at his side.

Oliver pushed open the door and made his way one staircase up to the landing between the executive floor and the roof. He crept into the building before as the Arrow, so he knew exactly, where the cameras were and what they would catch. 

He pushed Felicity carefully down to sit on the stairs and sat beside her, his arm going around her shoulders without thinking.

Felicity was still eerily quiet - so unusual for his vibrant friend - but at least she seemed to react to her environment.

"Felicity? Can you tell me, what happened? What triggered your panic attack?"

She looked down, as if ashamed and Oliver knew the first words she would say, before they actually left her mouth: "It's nothing. Really. Just some stupid thought, that kept me thinking. I mean you know how I am. Me thinking is nearly a bad as me talking... without thinking."

"Felicity, it was not nothing. What you experienced, is normal. You have gone through a traumatic experience yesterday. You got to have some issues about it."

Felicity finally looked up at him. "See, you said it. It's normal. No reason to talk about it." With this she tried to get up, but Oliver still held his arm over her shoulder to keep her at his side.

"Yes, it's normal, but that doesn't mean, that you should ignore it. There are many possibilities of what could trigger a panic attack or a flashback. You should know, what it is, so you are prepared the next time."

Felicity took every chance to avoid that conversation. "Ok, how about we go back to work now, and tonight I go home early and figure out the trigger by myself?"

"No."

She looked up at him for further explanation. When none came, she said: "What? Just 'No'? You don't give me a reason?"

"No, you will just find a counter argument for every reason I give you. So, just spill it out!"

She looked at him flabbergasted with her mouth open. Finally she sighed and closed her eyes. Collecting her thoughts she admitted: "I don't know, how to start."

Oliver could work with this. She was at least ready to talk to him now. "How about something easy. Did you have trouble sleeping? Did you have nightmares?" Sitting directly beside her, Oliver could see the dark circles under Felicity's eyes, slightly concealed by make-up.

"I had trouble falling asleep", she admitted. "I closed my eyes and was back in the office. Later I finally slept, but woke up from a nightmare shortly after. Then I lay in my bed wide awake and finally after two hours I went to the living room and watched some TV shows."

"What was the nightmare about? Do you remember?"

"I was back in your office again. He had me bound to the chair and was... He was playing with my hair and talked - mostly about himself."

Oliver thought back to the scene he saw, when he arrived the other night. On his way from the Court house to the foundry and back to QC, he had the Count's words playing in his mind: 'a not unattractive blonde'. When he arrived, she seemed scared, but otherwise unharmed. He had a fleeting thought about the Count touching Felicity, but suppressed it to focus on the problem at hand. Afterwards, there were too many other things on his mind. Now he had to confront his fears. "Did he touch you? Did he hurt you?"

Felicity looked up to him. "No. Hey, you were the one, who was shot, not me." She stopped, finally understanding, what he really asked. "No! No, he didn't hurt me in that kind of way." She couldn't meet his eyes. "He just made some comments about what he could do, if he had the time. Or what he would do after he..." She left the sentence unfinished.

"After he killed me", Oliver said quietly. He knew, he was blunt, but he had the feeling, that whatever the Count had threatened her with, was not the reason for her panic. He had to get to the bottom of this to really help her. He saw and felt her flinch in his arm, so he was on the right track. "Felicity? What were you really scared of in your nightmare? Come on, you can trust me. Just the same as I trust you."

She snorted at that. "Yeah sure, you confide in me all the time!"

Oliver smiled. "Touché. I am not the best role model. But you know the things that really count and you know more than the members of my family."

"Sorry, I didn't want to belittle.."

"You didn't, but you did successfully distract me again from my original question. Is this about me killing the Count? I told you yesterday. There was no choice to make. I would choose my family - the one by blood and the one I chose - every time."

Felicity looked up at him self-consciously. "I think, that is still part of the issue, but no longer the main one." Straightening her shoulders, she continued: "In my nightmare, everything was exactly as it happened - at first. He brought me to QC, called you and we waited. Then you arrived. He... He pulled the gun, and you were a little bit too slow and he shot you and he went over to you and shot you again... in the head... and that's when I woke up." A single tear ran down her cheek and she shyly wiped it away.

Oliver was stunned for a moment. He hadn't thought, that she had been thinking about the what-ifs of the situation.

Felicity used his silence to pick up her courage again. "It would have been my fault. You would have died because of my stupidity and my arrogance." There were more tears now, and she gave up on stopping them. "I thought, I could do this on my own. You were at the Court and John was weakened by Vertigo. And I thought,...I thought, that I can do this. I just go over to look into the business of a psychopathic drug dealer. Good idea, Felicity. This is the one time, I really should have thought through, what I was doing. But no, I go out there, because I thought I could do, what you and Dig do, going out there without back-up. This is ..."

Oliver had still been stunned by all the things, that came spluttering out of Felicity's mouth. When she got more and more frantic with her ramblings, he laid his right hand on her tear-stained face. She immediately shut up and looked up at him. Her eyes were glassy from the tears and even more intensely blue than usual.

"Felicity, first of all. Nothing happened. I am here. We are both here. None of us died. The only one, that died last night is the Count, and the fault for that lies not with you." Oliver saw, that she was not really convinced. "Regarding your solo mission... " He smiled at her. "You had better ideas in your life. And you are mistaken about one thing. You think, that Diggle and I go out there on our own. That's not true. I may be out there alone, but you are my eyes and ears out there. Your voice in my ear guides me out there." He saw a faint blush on her cheeks at his words and suddenly he was reminded of her innuendo while infiltrating the underground casino before the undertaking and chuckled. "You could have probably said that much more... eloquently."

Now the ice was broken. Despite her embarrassment, she joined in on Oliver's chuckle. They stayed some more minutes on the stairs, silently comfortable in each other's company. Oliver gave her his handkerchief to erase the tear stains from her face.

Finally Felicity broke the silence. "My butt is freezing."

"Hm...?" Oliver needed a moment to process, what she said.

Felicity grabbed the handrail and stood up. "My butt is freezing", she repeated. "We've been sitting here for half an hour on the concrete stairs."

"Are you ready to go back to civilization - and to the office? I'll be with you this time. When it gets too much, just tell me." He observed her contemplating his question.

"Yes, I think I am fine now."

They went down the stairs. Oliver opened the door to the executive floor. To their surprise they were greeted by John Diggle's wide shoulders. He obviously had been guarding the door. When he noticed them, he stepped aside to let them through.

Felicity was the first one to voice her surprise. "John, what are you doing here? How did you know...?" Suddenly she felt embarrassed with the thought, that John had overheard their conversation. Though she trusted her friend, the things she said to Oliver, were for his ears only.

"When you didn't come back to your temporary office, I went up to see, if I can help you carry some things. The police officer guarding your office told me, you had some kind of panic attack, and that you and Oliver went to the staircase. I opened the door, heard quiet voices and decided to wait here for you." Still seeing the frown on Felicity's face, he added: "I didn't hear anything!"

Felicity felt ashamed, because John knew exactly, what she had been thinking. "John, I am sorry. I didn't want to imply, that you would eavesdrop..."

John interrupted her. "You didn't imply anything. And you absolutely have the right to choose, what to tell anyone of us. We are friends, but that doesn't mean, you have to tell me everything. It's ok."

Felicity smiled, her mind put at ease again.

The three friends made their way over to the office in silence. Felicity met the smile of the young officer with one of her own. Quickly filling three cardboard boxes with files and equipment, they made their way back down to their replacement office and started putting everything away into drawers and cabinets.

About ten minutes later Diggle excused himself for an appointment with the chief of security. Oliver and Felicity worked on in comfortable silence.

Oliver had just put away the last office supplies into his desk drawer and turned around to ask Felicity for the details of his lunch reservation, when he suddenly found himself with an armful of his executive assistant. She had her arms only loosely around his midsection as if she anticipated, that he would pull away. Oliver felt awkward for a moment. Since his five years on the island he wasn't usually comfortable with physical contact. But he felt himself reacting on instinct, his arms coming around Felicity's shoulders as carefully as she has been with him."

When she spoke, her voice was a bit muffled as her face was pressed lightly into his chest. "Thank you. For rescuing me yesterday, for not... for not dying yesterday and for being there for me today. Thank you."

"Always." It was only one word, but this one word held so much meaning at this point. It was an answer to everything she thanked him for and maybe an undefined promise for more. For something none of them was ready for.

The hug ended as quickly as it started and Felicity went back to the outer office, obviously embarrassed by her display of affection. Oliver didn't want to imagine, what would have happened, if someone would have intruded into their intimate moment.

The trust they had - nearly from the beginning - had reached another step on the way to an unknown outcome he was slightly afraid of, but at the same time yearned to reach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nothing about panic attacks. So if this is not the right behaviour or the right method, to bring someone back from it, I am sorry, but this is, what I needed for the story.
> 
> Please let me know, what you think!


	5. Her nights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments and kudos.  
> It has been nearly a year since I posted something. I haven't stopped writing, but I began a few stories and then haven't had the patience and discipline to finish them.  
> So here's chapter five of Personal Assistance. It is more team than Olicity. (Sorry.)

Chapter 5 - Her nights

 

"So, you're still going out with your colleagues tonight?" Diggle sat down on one of the visitor chairs across from her desk.

"Ex-colleagues. I mean, they are from the IT department and since Oliver 'promoted' me ", she made quote marks in the air, "they are my ex-colleagues." Felicity looked up from her computer "And I am just realizing, I no longer have any colleagues. Now I just have a boss. A boss I spend my nights with. - Which I shouldn't tell the girls."

Diggle watched her curiously. "Are you looking forward to it?"

"Yeah, I think so. I mean I don't have many friends in Starling City. So it was great to go out with the girls once a month. Last month we were in Russia. So I couldn't go. Gosh! I should have stayed here. That would be one less image of Isabel in my head... but that is not the topic right now." Felicity looked up into John Diggle's smiling face. "What I wanted to say is 'yes, I am looking forward to tonight'. Are you sure, that you and Oliver will be ok without me?"

Diggle nodded still smiling. "I think we can manage for one night."

They both looked up, when they heard the elevator arriving. Oliver stepped out and came towards his office. "Hey, are you two ready to go?" he asked absentmindedly. Since Slade showed up at the Queen mansion the week before Oliver had been tense and even more eager to go out on the streets than usual. Perhaps today was not a good day to leave him and Diggle alone.

Before Felicity could respond, John Diggle stood up and said: "I am. It is only the two of us tonight, Oliver. Felicity has a girls night out." He winked at her and she stuck out her tongue.

Oliver turned around. "Ah, yes. That's today. You deserve an evening off. Relax with your friends." He took his jacket and he and Digg turned around to leave.

"Have fun, boys! And if anything comes up - if you need me, I am just a phone call away."

Her friends waved to her and disappeared into the elevator.

\----------

John Diggle sat at Felicity's desk in the foundry and tried not to disturb any of his friends things. It had been a slow night so far. Oliver intercepted some muggers and saved a girl from being raped.

He went through the latest sports news. The 'Starling Icebreakers', the local hockey team, had had a streak of bad luck for the last few weeks. After a couple of lost games they were already far down the table. It has been a long time since he had been to a game. Perhaps he also needed a night off.

Diggle looked down, when his phone beeped. It was a text from Felicity. 'John, please call me in 5 minutes.' It was just half past eight. As far as he knew she was still out with her friends from IT. He waited a few minutes and dialled Felicity's number. It rang three times and then he could hear her voice. 

_"Hi Anna, how are you?"_ Felicity said cheerfully.  
John was perplexed. "Felicity? This is John. You wanted me to call you."  
_"Anna, calm down. What is it?"_  
Okay, that meant she needed a way out of her dinner. He did that once for a friend during a first date, but this was just a girls night out, right?  
_"Yes, of course I can come over. I'll be there in 15 minutes. It is really no problem. See you, Anna."_ Without giving him the chance to say anything else she hung up.

Diggle set down his phone and checked Oliver's position. Ten minutes later his phone rang. Seeing Felicity's picture, he answered: "Hi, this is Anna. Nice to hear from you."

"Ha, ha. Funny" Felicity sighed. "Thank you, John! I mean it. Thank you for the rescue."

"Was it that bad?"

"Awkward." Felicity sighed. "Should I come over?"

"I think we are good for tonight. Go home. But I want the whole story tomorrow."

"Of course you do. Goodnight, John."

"Goodnight, Felicity."

\----------

The next morning was busy. Oliver had a meeting with investors and Felicity - as his trusty assistant - was there to take notes and provide information. This was actually one part of her job she liked. It was interesting to have inside information about the projects of the Applied Science department and she had no problem with taking notes on her laptop along the way. After years of coding and hacking she was faster in typing than most secretaries.

Oliver and the investors left for lunch around noon, which gave Felicity some time alone. But not for long. John Diggle stepped from the elevator, a big paper bag from Big Belly Burger in his hand.

"Hey, John. Didn't you have to drive Oliver and his guests?" Felicity asked frowning.

"No, he said they would walk. It is just two blocks away. And with the construction site at Fulton Street the car ride would have taken at least twice as long." John set down the bag on her desk and brought over a chair.

Three bites into their meal, John asked, what she knew would come up sooner or later. "So, what happened yesterday with your girls night."

Felicity took her time eating some fries, before she answered: "In the beginning it was great. We went to that new Italian place at Hope Street. The food was delicious. And it was great making fun of my former supervisor. His technical knowledge is just about average and he is just delegating the workload. I had to remove a virus from his laptop twice. And he didn't get any better since I left."

"So when did it go wrong?

"When the gossip went beyond the IT department. Sally started to tell, how a married man from Accounting was caught in the act with his secretary... And suddenly she stopped speaking and looked at me with wide eyes. And then nobody could look me in the eyes at all. Eventually Kendra stepped in and started a tale about something else - I don't know what. The tension was still there. I tried for another ten minutes to participate somehow, but then I send you the text." Felicity sighed. "I don't think, I will go out with them again."

John had finished his burger. He leaned back in his chair and looked over at her curious. "Felicity, as long as I know you, you never had a problem with talking. So why didn't you just tell them something to diffuse the tension?"

Felicity rolled her eyes. "And what should I have told them?! My private life is non-existent and everything work-related would have begun with 'Oliver and I...' - not very helpful in that situation." She tried to calm down. "The worst thing was, that even my closest colleagues, that I have worked with for more than 18 months, think, that I am sleeping with Oliver. I mean, they should know me! As long it was only people, who don't know me, I could live with it. But they... they should know better." Where she had been agitated just seconds ago, she now just sounded resigned.

John opened and closed his mouth a few times, before Felicity smiled at him. "You don't have to say anything. I don't even think there is anything to say. It just is as it is. Truth to be told, it already helped a little to share that with you."

"A problem shared is a problem halved?" John asked.

"Yeah, something like that."

\----------

The rest of the day flew by and soon Oliver, Felicity and Diggle relocated to the foundry. It was an ordinary evening. After working out and sparring Oliver and Diggle as his back-up went out to patrol the Glades and kept their eyes open for any signs of Slade. 

It was nearly half past eleven, when the Green Archer came back to the foundry. He lowered his hood and set his bow and quiver on one of the tables.

Felicity turned around to the stairs. "Where's Digg?"

"He said, he will pick up something to eat." Oliver opened his jacket to hang it up on the dummy. Felicity was still waiting for the day, when he would be so lost in thought, that he would strip down completely in front of her - not that she would mind. But apparently today was not the day. After he disappeared into the small bathroom, Felicity started to shut down her equipment and cleared a table for the food. With the amount of fast-food she had eaten since joining the team, she was really glad she had her mother's good genes. The thought alone about burning all these calories by training was scary.

Diggle arrived just when Oliver was coming back from the bathroom. They sat down and John spread boxes with Chinese food on the table. "Dinner for three - all peanut-free."

Felicity snickered at his unintended rhyme.

They started to eat in silence, but soon some spilled sauce prompted Diggle to tell a story of a Christmas meal, where his younger brother tried out some new toy, which landed in the middle of a bowl and splattered the whole table with gravy as a result. 

Oliver remembered a similar incident, when Thea was four or five years old. "My parents had some business associates over for dinner. It was the first time, that Thea was allowed to be there. She was so proud in her pink dress. Unfortunately the soup was already her doom. She started eating and then reached to grab her drink. My mother had moved it further away to the middle of the table, so Thea leaned over to reach it and pressed down on the edge of the plate and the whole soup flowed over her dress, the chair and the floor. I will never forget her horror-stricken face. That was the end of the dinner for her. A maid brought her upstairs and changed her. She had to take the rest of the meal in the kitchen with the cook. It took over a year before my parents gave her a second chance." Oliver had smiled during the story and now joined his friends in their laughter.

When Felicity had calmed down, she stated: "I really wish we would have had a cook, when I was little. My mom cooks even worse than me, and that should be impossible. Fortunately she usually had not the time or the patience to really cook. The only exception was Thanksgiving. When she was a child Thanksgiving was always this great family get-together, where everyone brought something for the meal. But back in my childhood and youth it was only the two of us. Every year she would buy a turkey - usually too big for our little stove. She was making sweet potatoes, corn, pies and... every year something went wrong - too much salt, burned turkey or pie. Mostly we ate, what was eatable and then set down with candy and snacks in front of the TV. Two times it was so bad, that we had to order Pizza." Again their laughter echoed through the room. 

John snatched himself another mini spring roll. "So you never had a real Thanksgiving meal with a big family?" 

Felicity looked thoughtful. "I think I had - one time. When I just started at MIT, I didn't have the money to fly home for Thanksgiving. My roommate invited me over to her parent's house. There were at least 25 people - aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents. It was great. They were really nice to me, but... it just wasn't the same. I missed my mom's imperfect dinner. The next day I spent two hours on the phone with her, while we were both watching TV and eating snacks. I started saving money for the following year directly after the holidays."

They sat together in silence this time - everyone lost in thought. But it was a comfortable silence after a meal shared with friends.

It was Oliver, who eventually broke the silence. Quietly he said: "Do you remember, I tried to create this family Christmas party last year - the same way it was before... the Island. But it doesn't work like that. You cannot force the holiday feeling - you need the right people with you and the right circumstances."

"It was the same for me, when I came home from Afghanistan", Diggle added. "I couldn't just go back to the way things were before. Because I changed and the others changed, too."

They sat for another thirty minutes and talked about their families and childhood memories, before they went home.

Later Felicity lay in her bed, thinking about her last two evenings. Perhaps it was just that simple. The right people and the right circumstances. She changed during the last year. And that's why the night-in with 'her' boys made so much more sense than the night-out with the girls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was now or never. I was on a roll with writing and not sure, when that would happen again. So I hope, there are not too many mistakes in there.

**Author's Note:**

> I know Oliver is very talkative, but I couldn't bring myself to interrupt him.  
> I have currently ideas for two other chapters.


End file.
